Quilting has been practiced for centuries. Generally, quilting is the process of stitching through layers of cloth. In one common type of quilt, a plurality of squares or rectangles of colored cloths are sewn together around their peripheries to form a decorative top sheet. The top sheet is overlaid on a liner, such as flannel or batting, and a bottom sheet, and these laminations are then stitched together to form the entire quilt. The stitches preferably form a uniform pattern across the entire area of the quilt. This can require thousands of stitches that are often made by hand by a human quilter.
Alternatively, the top sheet may be a full sized sheet with an attractive decoration. This top sheet is then quilted by hand-stitching it to one or more cloth laminations. The stitches are generally arranged in a decorative and often elaborate pattern.
In either event, thousands of hand stitches are required to complete a quilt and, in each stitch, the quilter must make sure that the needle penetrates all of the cloth laminations and then returns through the cloth laminations at a distance closely spaced from the point of entry so as to preferably give a relatively small stitch.
Thimbles are often used both for protecting the finger from needle points as well as for pushing needles through multiple layers of material. Conventional thimbles are worn on a digit other than a thumb, typically on an index finger or middle finger. The thimble surface is most often roughened to prevent deflection of the needle from the curved thimble surface. Instead of passing the needle entirely through the cloth laminations, regrasping it on the underside of the cloth laminations and reinserting it on the return path through the laminations, the quilter generally pushes the needle point through the cloth laminations in engagement with the thimble and then rotates the needle relative to the cloth so as to point the needle upwardly so that it may be pushed back through the cloth laminations.
Even when the thimble surface is roughened however, conventional thimbles do not allow manipulation of the needle with any significant level of accuracy and precision. Moreover, conventional thimbles allow stitches to be made only in very limited directions. Therefore, in order to achieve the intricate stitching designs found on quilts, the fabric must be rotated. When a large quilt is being stitched together, however, the fabric is stretched on a stationary frame, and the fabric cannot be rotated. In this case, the quilter must change position relative to the fabric in order to achieve stitches in different directions. As a result, attempting to produce uniform, aesthetically pleasing stitches of an intricate pattern in many directions can be awkward and physically stressful.
Thus, a need exists for a quilting accessory for effecting the hand stitching of a plurality of cloth laminations to provide accurate and precise manipulation of a needle to produce uniform stitches in a wide range of directions without the necessity of rotating the cloth.